


Sympathy for the Devil

by silver_drip



Series: Spiraling 'verse [15]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Blacksmithing, prisoner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 00:19:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5312564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_drip/pseuds/silver_drip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony's first stay in Jotunheim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sympathy for the Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Thank ya Temul for editing!
> 
> This work will have multiple chapters scattered throughout Our Paths Unfold.

* * *

Laufey examined the thin crack that marred his golden crown. Perhaps he shouldn’t have worn it while fighting, but it served its purpose as marking him as the leader. He’d usually just hand off any armor that he’d damaged to one of his soldiers to get it fixed, but this crown was important, a gift from another life.

He headed deep into the bowels of his castle, feeling the stinging heat of the forge. It was truly despicable work, but necessary.

A guard was sitting just outside of the smithy, snoring loudly as his helmet rested in his lap. Laufey paused in thought before slamming his fist into the face of the sleeping Jotun, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

“Who the—” The guard quickly snapped his mouth shut. “Chief Laufey! It wasn’t my idea,” the Jotun said while quickly running off. Laufey memorized his lines to hunt him down later before turning towards the smithy door. He scowled when he heard laughter.

Silently he opened the door and was surprised to see three Jotuns and an Aesir sitting as far away from the forges as possible. Only one of the Jotuns saw him, the other two were facing away from him.

“—had him by the reins, but he was just busting down every door.” The two ignorant Jotuns laughed loudly. “Swear I almost had my eye taken out by a chunk of wood.”

The Jotun blacksmith that saw him elbowed one of the others in the side, gesturing towards Laufey subtly. Laufey could see the absolute fear settle in the Jotun’s eyes as the laughter died on his lips. The pair quickly grabbed their tools and went back over to the forges. The last Jotun, a guard, looked around in confusion, spotting Laufey the same moment the young Aesir did.

The guard quickly bashed the Aesir on the back of his head, causing him to fall out of his seat.

“Fuck, just put him on the take, too. You didn’t have to hit me.” The stone chains around the Aesir’s legs clattered as he tried to stand back up. The guard kicked him in the gut and Laufey raised a hand, causing the guard and the two blacksmiths to stop moving completely.

“Explain,” Laufey said simply, his piercing red eyes staring down the guard.

“This Aesir—”

“ Half  Aesir—” The guard slammed his foot down on the prisoner’s back, sending him to the ground again.

“He is an adequate blacksmi—”

“I’m the best damn blacksmith in this realm—” Once again the Aesir was struck down, letting out a pained groan. “I’ve been working these forges for seventeen years now.” The Aesir kept speaking despite being kicked repeatedly by the panicking guard. “The war effort—” He was kicked in the head, finally stilling his tongue as he was knocked out.

“Enough.” Laufey scowled before turning towards the two blacksmiths. “Tell me a lie and I’ll tear out both your throats.” He looked at the younger of the two.

“He is a blacksmith from Vanaheim. Two guards brought him up here seventeen years ago. We didn’t want him here, but they forced us—”

“He’s lying—” Before the guard could say any more Laufey shot him with a bolt of ice, nailing him to the stone wall.

“As Tony—the prisoner, said, he’s been using our forges for seventeen years, creating some of the best armor and jewelry I’ve ever seen. Whenever there are spare materials he uses them to create something that one of the guards later sells. We split the profits between the four of us. I’m sorry, but he truly is the best blacksmith in all of Jotunheim. I have learned more from him than from any apprenticeship.” Laufey raised his hand again and the Jotun went silent.

Laufey slowly walked over to the Aesir, rolling him over with his foot. He was dressed in ragged pants and nothing else. His ankles were shackled in stone with a short chain between them, not allowing the Aesir to move quickly. He was young and looked so much like every Aesir that invaded Laufey’s realm with deluded ideas of supremacy.

Laufey glanced around, seeing a bucket of murky water near one of the forges. He grabbed it then quickly dumped its contents onto the Aesir. The Aesir sputtered back to life, coughing on the ashy water.

“Who are you?” Laufey asked while staring down the Aesir. He could see his brown eyes quickly measuring him up, calculating despite his young age. With an unhurried motion he stood and bowed slightly.

“I am Tony No-One’s Son, a smith from Vanaheim, and apparently half Aesir, according to my mother.” Laufey narrowed his eyes, not believing him.

“You reek of Aesir nobility.” There was a flash of something in his brown eyes. Perhaps surprise.

“At this point I’d assume I only smell like the dungeons,” Tony half joked. “I assume you want that repaired.” Tony gestured towards the crown Laufey had forgotten he was holding. Subconsciously, his grip tightened on the object. “You won’t be disappointed if you let me fix it, and if you are you can always just kill me.” Tony shrugged slightly. “Even if you are pleased you can still kill me. You’re the one in control here.” The Aesir looked far too at ease for Laufey’s liking.

“Your death will last millenniums if you disappoint.” Tony quickly plucked the crown from Laufey’s hand, turning his back to him and heading over to the forge.

“Why do so many people say that to me?” Tony mumbled to himself.

He carelessly set the crown on an anvil and Laufey held back a twitch. The Aesir rummaged through a chest against the far wall, pulling out a chunk of gold ore. He began humming to himself, raising Laufey’s ire. Tony began heating the ore, working the impurities out of it quickly and with practiced precision Laufey had not seen before.

Tony seemed to kiss his own fingertips and Laufey felt a burst of magic, putting the Jotun on guard. He could tell that neither the guard nor blacksmiths noticed, either that or they were far too used to it.

Laufey was startled when the Aesir picked up the molten metal with his bare hands, pulling a glob of it off and leaving the rest behind in the fire. He picked up the crown with his free hand, examining the crack before applying the quickly cooling gold to it. He rubbed at it with his thumb for a moment before walking over to one of the work benches. With a dark cloth he gave the crown a quick rub down. It was suddenly gleaming in a way it hadn’t since the day it was originally forged.

“A lovely piece with quite a few stories to it, I’d assume.” Tony handed over the crown and Laufey examined his work. He couldn’t even tell there had been a crack. The Aesir had even buffed away the dull discolorations from other repairs. “I’ve heard that you are a fair ruler and that there is a war going on. Don’t you think my time would be better spent than working for this lot? I think you’d be surprised by just how much we have in common, if you would be so kind as to grant me an audience…”


End file.
